Liam is considering just skipping out on the swimming lessons by the time Eleanor hands him the pool keys. He's had a shit day on top his hangover. He knew he should have stopped drinking last night, but Louis and Harry kept bickering, and Niall kept getting him refills, and then the rest of the night was a blur or arguments and Niall kissing Eleanor and Zayn smoking cigarettes while not ever meeting his eyes.
The money is too good to miss out on, though, so he grabs his swim trunks and heads for the pool. This time, Zayn is waiting for him just outside the doors, cigarette dangling from his fingers. He doesn't greet Liam in anyway, but instead keeps puffing on his cigarette as Liam unlocks the door.
He doesn't hold the door open for Zayn. He just heads straight for the lights, flicks them on, and then moves on to the locker room. He ducks inside one of the free stalls to change, knowing that Zayn is right behind him and he doesn't feel like flashing Zayn his ass -- or anything else.
When he exit's the stall, Zayn is already out of the room. Out in the pool room, he finds Zayn already in the water. He's in the deeper end, floating on his back, a small smile in his face.
"What are you doing?" Liam asks.
"Shut up," Zayn orders. "If you distract me I'll loose my cool and drown."
Liam watches him for a few minutes. He can admit that, objectively, Zayn is nice to look at. It's just hard to pay attention to that when he knows what kind of person he is. Liam is not one of those people that thinks looks outweigh personality.
"Did you even consider how to get back to the shallow end?" Liam questions eventually.
"I've been practising," Zayn admits quietly.
Liam frowns at him. "You can't do that, Zayn," he says, annoyance building in him. "You shouldn't ever swim by yourself, especially when you struggle with it. You could have gotten seriously hurt. You could have died."
Zayn's arms flail for a moment, but he steadies himself before he goes under. "Figured you'd be pleased about that, not angry."
Liam sinks down to the edge of the pool and lets his legs hang in. "I'm not kidding, Zayn," he says. "Don't do that again. If you want to practise, ask someone to come with you."
"Worrying about me, Liam?" Zayn asks, lips quirking up into that soft smile again. Liam sort of wishes he could see Zayn's eyes, but then again it's probably a good thing they're closed.
"No," Liam snaps. "I just don't want to lose my job because you're an idiot."
Zayn's lips turn into a thin line at that, and then he's flailing again, going under. Liam jumps into the pool and swims over to him, since Zayn is still in the deeper end. Even if he straightens himself, he won't be able to touch the ground and stand.
He lifts Zayn above the water and pulls him over the shallow end. "Done?" he demands.
Zayn rolls his eyes. "You're a bit of a bore, aren't you?" Zayn asks.
Liam narrows his eyes. "Can we just get on with this?"
Zayn lifts his hands defensively. "Whatever you say."
So maybe he had done something this weekend, because he'd spent a few minutes (or hours) researching how to teach someone to swim. Apparently he was on the right track with trying to get Zayn to not be afraid of the water (which apparently worked, too). A few of the sites he checked suggested the assisted floating, just like they'd done.
Next he has to teach Zayn the right motions for keeping himself up and moving through the water. He has Zayn hold onto the edge of the pool (like the site instructed) and kick his feet out. It takes all of about five minutes for Zayn to get annoyed with this.
"I feel like a fucking idiot," Zayn hisses, looking over his shoulder at Liam. "This is ridiculous."
He does look kind of ridiculous, but Liam somehow manages to keep this thought to himself. "You wanted to learn. This is what we're doing."
"Why aren't you doing it, then?" Zayn demands.
Liam raises an eyebrow. "Because I, unlike you, actually know how to swim."
Zayn releases the edge of the pool and turns to face Liam. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what I said," Liam replies. "And also like I said, if you want to learn, then you're going to have to do what I tell you."
Zayn glares at him for a moment before turning back around and grabbing the edge of the pool. He continues with the kicking motions, and Liam has no doubt that he's purposefully kicking water directly at Liam, because every time he moves Zayn just shifts over a bit.
"You're probably loving this, right?" Zayn asks after a moment. "The fact that I can't do this. Makes you feel like you're better than me, or something."
"No," Liam says, and it's the truth. He doesn't feel superior to Zayn at all. In fact, Zayn's done such a good job of reminding Liam exactly where he stands in the world that it'd be pretty impossible for him to feel better than Zayn. "Unlike some people, I don't get off on everyone else's insecurities."
"Like you have any," Zayn snorts. "Everyone-- fucking loves you." He somehow managed to get water in his mouth, and he spits it out as he spits out the curse word. "My parents. My best fucking friend. It's ridiculous. It's like you shit fucking rainbows."
Zayn kicks harder, now, and there's a steady spray of water from behind him. Liam moves back and out of the way, frowning at Zayn as he does so. Just like Liam not hating anyone, he doesn't really think anyone's ever hated him. Or, he's tried to make sure that no one would have a reason to, prides himself on being a good person. But Zayn? Zayn definitely hates him.
"You've got them all so wrapped around your fingers," Zayn continues as he kicks at the water. "Fucking Wonderboy, is what you are. And for some reason I'm the only one who seems to remember the fact that you clean rooms and deliver food for a fucking living. Like, what's so great about that? Why does that make you better than me, in their eyes? It's bullshit, is what it is."
Liam's steadily moving away from Zayn now, but Zayn doesn't seem to care or notice. He just keeps talking, keeps digging at Liam even more, until Liam tunes it out and pulls himself out of the pool.
"Get out," Liam says, moving to the edge of the pool near Zayn. "Get the fuck out."
Zayn lets go of the edge of the pool and stands up. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me," Liam tells him. "Get out. We're done here."
"It's only been, like, forty minutes," Zayn says, impatiently pushing his hair off his forehead.
"Yeah, but we're done," Liam tells him.
Zayn glares up at a moment before shrugging his shoulders and climbing out of the pool. Liam turns his back on him and heads for the change rooms. He doesn't pull on his dry clothes, but instead grabs his keys out of the pockets of his pants and grips them tightly in his fingers, the ridges biting into his palm.
He waits out at the pool for Zayn to get changed, and when he comes out Liam pushes through the door and then waits for Zayn to leave the building before locking it behind them. After that, he doesn't spare Zayn another glance. He just stomps towards the main building, feet soaking his shoes, making the soles slosh with water as he walks. He just doesn't give a fuck.
Zayn doesn't follow him, and Liam has no idea where he goes, nor does he care to find out. He heads to the receptionist desk and puts away the keys, and then heads to his room. He doesn't slam the door behind himself, but Harry looks up at him in surprise anyways.
"What happened?" Harry asks instantly, getting out of his bed.
"Nothing," Liam tells him. He ducks into the bathroom to avoid further questions, and turns the water on scalding hot before getting in. He lets the warmth wash away the pool water and Zayn's words.
--
Most of Wednesday is a blur, but Louis is true to his word, and Malik stops him during one of his cleaning rounds to tell him he's got from 4:30 until 6:00 off to, "Accompany Mr. Tomlinson down to the beach."
Liam thanks him and heads back to his to change at 4:30, and then grabs two boards from the pool's supply room. Louis has no idea how grateful he is for this, because he needs a break. He needs to just take a minute and relax and enjoy himself.
When he gets to the beach Louis is waiting for him, just like last time. He pulls his sunglasses off and grins widely at Liam. "There he is," Liam says brightly. "The man of the hour!"
Liam frowns at him. "What's up with you today?"
"Oh, nothing," Louis says brightly. "Just in a good mood, I guess."
Liam's frown deepens. "What happened?"
Louis shrugs. "Nothing groundbreaking. Harry still hates me, Zayn happens to hate you. But I spent my morning in the bungalow while Harry watched my sisters. It was adorable. They love him."
"Apparently the Tomlinson kids just can't get enough of him," Liam teases.
Louis knocks his shoulder into Liam's. "Apparently." He grabs one of the boards from Liam and walks towards the water. He stops just at the edge, though, and fixes Liam with a questioning look. "Mind telling me what happened yesterday?"
Liam just carries his board under his arm and jogs into the water, calling a loud, "Nope!" over his shoulder.
Liam's not sure exactly how long they stay in the water, but by the time they stumble out Liam only has enough energy to make it to Louis' pile of towels before he collapses in the sand. Louis places his own board on the ground and crashes to the earth, too, and they just lay their for a long moment, letting the cloud-covered sun beat down on them.
Eventually Louis pulls himself up and checks his cellphone -- which is laying on one of the towels-- and sighs. "You've got about fifteen minutes before you have to get back to work," he sighs.
Liam groans. "Great."
"Come on," Louis coaxes. "I'll carry our boards back."
Liam pushes off from the ground and waves him off. "I've got it," he says, but Louis insistently grabs his board, juggling the two of them, the towels, and his phone after he places his sunglasses back on his face.
They pass Harry on the way to the pool house. He walks straight by them for a moment before doubling back, eyes narrowed and distrustful. "You were surfing," he states.
Liam swallows and opens his mouth to say something, but Louis interjects. "Not his fault," Louis tells Harry. "I forced him into it. Made Malik give him the hour off. He didn't want to, but I was persistent."
Harry frowns at them both for a long time before narrowing his eyes. "Whatever," he says. "See you tonight, Liam."
They both watch him walk briskly towards the main building. When he gets inside, Louis sighs loudly. "That is going to take so much work."
Liam nods. "It definitely is."
"Well," Louis says, slapping Liam's back. "We have the whole summer in front of us. We'll figure it out. And in the meantime, I'm going to be an exceptionally good friend to both you and Zayn, and I'm going to talk to him about this whole 'hating your very soul' thing he has going on."
Liam blanches as they start trekking towards the pool building again. "Don't bother, Louis."
Louis shakes his head. "I will bother, thanks. He's being ridiculous. You're perfectly lovely, there's really no reason for him to be such a dick about this."
"I don't care if he hates me," Liam says, and it's partially true, at least. "Let him feel the way he wants. Doesn't affect me."
Louis gives him a long, quizzical look. "You're sure?"
Liam nods. "As long as he doesn't try to get me fired or something, he can hate me as much as he wants."
"Okay," Louis says slowly. "Whatever you want, Liam."
It is what he wants. Zayn Malik can hate him if that's what makes him feel better. He just better expect Liam to feel the exact same way.
Weirdly enough, when he gets to his and Harry's room, Harry says the same thing to Liam that Louis did. "If you want to be his friend, go ahead. I'm not going to make you feel like shit for it. Whatever you want, Liam."
Liam falls asleep wondering why this summer is so much more complicated than last year.
--